Readers Respond to Answers, July – September 2011

Loving this special edition magazine. Can’t put it down. Our
whole family keeps scrambling for it every time someone even looks like they
are done reading!
Lanita N., Facebook

Audio Answers

Thank you very much for providing audio of your magazine articles. I have dyslexia,
and reading articles (especially long ones) is difficult for me. The audio gave
me a chance to actually hear the article—when I probably would not have read
it myself. And I am especially glad because I would have been missing out!

Allison B., California

Part of the Club

I love your magazine, and it has been extremely edifying for me personally
and for the creation club I run at home with local youths. The articles are
informative, professional, and—most importantly—God-honoring. I thank the Lord
Jesus that He has given you a passion for defending His Word.

Tony B., Washington

Promoting Evolution?

I am very confused after reading your magazine. At the end of the article about
solar-powered hornets you say, “Researchers claim the hornet somehow solved
these problems by evolving.” Hello! Evolution is fictional.

Dan P., Email

Author’s Response I apologize for any confusion. In this particular
quote, I wanted to capture exactly what the researchers suggested then explain
that their interpretation of the results does not line up with the Bible.

But for those who may be confused in the future, we will try to spell out
our responses more directly, perhaps with words along these lines: “The researchers
based their claim on the assumption that all living things evolved from a
common ancestor, which clearly is not the case.” Your comment is a good reminder
that creationists should be careful not to assume too much in their writing.

Computing the Right Analogy

Concerning your article “Ready-Made Instincts,” you make an analogy about a
computer being able to accomplish nothing until information is installed onto
its CPU. Actually, as a computer professional, I can tell you that’s not entirely
the case. The ROM (read-only memory) must have something on it for a computer
to start working. For it to do something useful, it has to read the program
from the hard drive into the RAM (random-access memory).

In your analogy, the motherboard would be more accurate than the CPU, since
the ROM and RAM are normally on the motherboard. The CPU is more of the engine
that directs the flow in information in the computer.

Editor’s response: During the review process for this article, we
debated the best wording to make the point you stated above, especially about
ROM, without going into details for the analogy. Given the imprecise way terms
are popularly used, we settled on “CPU” as a broad term for many of the things
you mention. (The Imperial College Department of Computing says, “Designs
vary widely but, in general, the CPU consists of the control unit, the arithmetic
and logic unit [ALU] and memory [registers, cache, RAM and ROM] as well as
various temporary buffers and other logic.”)

However, based on feedback like yours, we realized we should probably have
avoided that term, too. So we decided to change the online version of this
article to say simply that a computer “can accomplish nothing until information
is installed.”

No Corruption

We love Answers magazine. Our children spend hours looking at it, and
we do not have to be worried about them getting their minds corrupted by something
they shouldn’t see. Thank you. Thank you.

A. J. and Susan G., Minnesota

Singing the Glory of God

Your whole magazine sings the glory of God. It explains science in light of
Scripture, rejects evolution, and shows the goodness of our Creator. I am now
starting to believe that the Bible truly is the Word of God. I used to be convinced
by evolution and the big bang theory, too. But after reading about the Word
of God [in your magazine], I feel that I was wrong. The research you have done
is marvelous, and it touches the heart. God bless you in your work so that you
are able to help many other people open their hearts and minds to the Bible.

Syed H., Pakistan

Flooded on Facebook About Our 5-Year Feature

I’m still working through the articles, but this is the best issue ever! Congratulations
to the entire team for a spectacular issue. Came away from it just so thrilled
to be a Christian!

Jacob M.

I got mine yesterday, and I think the cover is the best cover I’ve ever seen
on Answers or anything else! Thank you to everyone involved in its production!

Jeremiah S.

I loved it enough that I bought extra copies for others.

Michael M.

Super issue! Jam-packed with amazing, truthful articles! A must for every home!
I have been a subscriber since day one.

Martha B.

Answers Magazine

October – December 2011

Answers magazine has decided to do some myth-busting. This issue will examine some of the most popular myths about the dinosaurs and how they died. Along the way, you’ll learn some other cool facts about these amazing creatures—quick, can you name the smallest kind of dinosaur? We will also examine some serious contemporary issues, such as the increase of biblical compromise in homeschool materials and the dangers of the new leader in “theistic evolution,” known as the BioLogos Foundation.